Trapped: Tanks for Tapping
by willwrite4fics
Summary: Another Trapped story, but a bit different. When Cobra blows a tank over on top of our favorite commando SnakeEyes stopping him from fighting in the battle, can the Joes rescue him? Short, punch line at the end that inspired it! Thanks for reading! Enjoy!


Another in the series of Trapped stories.. but.. a little bit different. Yet.. it involves another MOBAT!

Please enjoy the fic, please review. I'll be doing some of the suggested pairings in places suggested later, never fear.

* * * *

SnakeEyes dodged to the side as a pair of Vipers fired at him. He slid sideways, turning a double handspring between bullets to land between the two. His katana flicked forward to sever the neck vertebrae of the first, and twisted in his hand to strike underneath his own arm to skewer the second before he could step back to fire at the ninja.

He twisted as a Rattler dove near him, firing missiles in a full spread. He twisted and rolled away as one landed near him, blowing rocks and dirt over him. SnakeEyes raised his head looking to where the nearby empty broken-down Joe tank had been. It was gone, with a crater where it had been. Turning his head, he looked for the missing tank, looking up at the last possible moment to see the bulk of metal overhead, descending on him rapidly. Lunging to his feet, he rushed to the side, too late, too slowly..

* * * *

RockNRoll stared as the team's resident ninja disappeared beneath the wrecked tank. "Oh no!!! NOOO!!!" He waved at RoadBlock. "Dude!! Snakes just got smashed by that tank!! We gotta help him! That missile blew the MOBAT right up in the air, man!!"

They rushed over, firing as they went at the nearby Cobra troops that tried to advance on the area. Once they took cover behind the tank wreckage, they set up a deadly field of heavy gunfire to drive the enemy troops back.

"RockNRoll!!" RoadBlock shifted his aim to keep the nearest troops' heads down. "Get under there.. see if you can see if he's still alive! Snakes!! Hang in there!"

The shaggy blond put aside his weapon and scrambled along the edges of the wreckage looking for an opening. "SnakeEyes!! Hey!" He found a opening and dug at the ground to widen it. "Hang in there! Can you hear me!?" He cursed to himself. "Geez.. why am I asking? The man can't answer me.." He stuffed himself down into the hole peering around. "Snakes? Hey.. come on.. you under here? Tap on something! Anything!" He heard a slight clank from further under the tank. "Was that you??" Another slight clank. "ALRIGHT!!! Roadblock!! He's alive!! Hang in there!"

Roadblock yelled loudly. "Alright!! Get him out of there.." Dusty and Clutch came flying up in an AWEStriker and made a few runs at the nearby Cobra troops, driving them back. When the Wolverine rumbled into view, the Cobra army turned tail and ran.

Dusty pumped a fist in the air as Clutch drove up to the wreckage. "Hey Roadblock!! We did it! They're on the run now!"

Roadblock tossed aside his heavy gun and began to scrape at the hole that RockNRoll had widened. "Get some help! Snakes is pinned under here! An explosion blew the tank onto him!"

The machine gunner came backing himself out. "Pull my legs! I'm stuck!" Clutch and Roadblock dragged him free. "There's not enough space for me to get under there! I can't get to him."

Clutch looked at the tank. "Maybe we can roll it over.. get some chains on it, use CoverGirl's Wolverine to roll it."

RockNRoll shook his head, making the hair fly around wildly. He brushed his fingers over the thick beard to knock the dirt out of it. "No.. we can't tell how it's setting on him.. rolling it could crush him. We need to try to get under to him. I'm just too danged big to fit!"

CoverGirl had come up, standing in her Wolverine cockpit. "I can try. I'm smaller.." She scrambled out and peeled off her jacket as she approached, handing it to Clutch. "Hold this.. get TunnelRat over here, he's the expert in fitting into tight spots." She squeezed into the hole, edging her way underneath as the bigger guys watched.

Clutch smiled down at the sight of her shapely rear as it began to disappear under the edge of the metal armor. "Nice view chickie-baby." He didn't expect the boot heel that slammed into his knee from her awkward position. "Unngh.. ow.."

"Any more comments from you pea-brains?" Her muffled voice sounded annoyed enough to come back out and distribute more kicks.

There was a chorus from the men. "No ma'am!" "Not from me." "Didn't say a thing!"

Dusty walked back up about then. "I got a hold of Duke, he's sending TunnelRat this way now. I called for a medic too, lord knows how badly he's hurt. Heeeey..." He smiled as he looked at the figure disappearing rapidly. "Is that CoverGirl.. you loo.." His mouth was covered by one of Roadblock's meaty hands. "Mmmph."

The well muscled black trooper leaned slightly. "You see him yet, CoverGirl?" He pointed at the still hopping Clutch and whispered at the desert trooper. "I wouldn't be making no unwanted commentary.. she's in a mood about it."

Dusty nodded and tugged at his hand. "Got it. Thanks. I like my kneecaps." He looked at the hole then straightened up. "I'll check around the rest.. there's gotta be another way under there.." He walked around the wreckage and found a slight dip to scrape at. Putting his face down to the edge, he peered underneath. "Hey Snakes? You near here?" He heard a slight tapping. "Okay.. I'm gonna try to dig to you from here." He pulled off his hat and unbuckled his battle harnessing. "Coming in now.." He began to cram himself in through the hole, digging at the sand and pushing it aside bit by bit.

"Dusty.. can you see him?" RockNRoll had come around to see how he was doing. "CoverGirl is trying to dig through from her side, we got a entrenching tool for you.."

Dusty rolled himself to the side as much as possible to try to squeeze one arm free. "Give it here.." When the gunner tried to pass it to him, he pushed it back. "Blade first, I can't turn it around in here." Taking it back, he used it to scrape at the dirt, trying to make himself a hole to squeeze through.

TunnelRat arrived at a dead run. "Hey guys.. anyone wanna fill me in?" Roadblock gave him the quick facts, and the smaller man was already divesting himself of his gear to crawl into the hole. He quickly backed back out and glared at the rest of them. "Yous guys shoulda warned me da chick was in dere!" He bent and yelled. "CoverGirl, get outa da way so's I can get in dere!" He stood hands on hips for a moment while she slowly backed up. "I'ma goin' check Dusty."

Dusty was backing out when he walked around to look. "Hey 'Rat.. this is blocked. I dug through as far as I could, but I hit a rock, the turret seems to be resting on it, I can't find any way around it. The spot on the other side is gonna be our best bet."

TunnelRat returned just as CoverGirl was being tugged free by Roadblock. "I got you, girl.. watch your head." She sat up and shook her hair free of dirt and twigs.

The specialist dropped to the ground and squirmed into the hole easily. "Hey... nice job a diggin' CoverGirl.. Snakes? Hey Snakes? You okay?" They all heard the light tapping on metal. "Okay.. I'm headed towards ya.." He clicked his flashlight on and shined it around. "Yell.. uhh.. I mean tap.. if ya see da light, okay?" It was quiet. "Alright.. don't worry." He began digging as the tapping began. "Hey.. I'm tryin' to get dere.."

Dusty bent down. "Wait.. he's using Morse code.. that's SOS." He bent to yell. "SnakeEyes, we know you're there.. we're getting you out as fast as we can." He listened. "Wait.. oh geez.. my Morse code is rusty as heck.. anyone know Morse code better?" He peered around at the blank looks. "Greeat. Alright.. go slow Snakes.." He listened. "Okay.. L. Uhh.. E. T.. " There was a louder bang-bang-bang. "What? L.. E... T..." The bang-bang-bang was even louder this time. "What's wrong Snakes? Let what? Let... you get out? We're trying." There was silence for a second before the tapping began again. "L... E.. T.." He waited as it got quiet, then the tapping began. "B.. L.. E.. E.. K..." There was another pause. "N... O.. " Dusty twisted his lips, thinking. "That doesn't make any sense. 'let bleek no'?" He listened. "N.. O.." He frowned. "Oh.. 'no'. No, okay.. I got it wrong?" He listened. "Y.. E.. S.."

He took a deep breath and then turned as another vehicle pulled up with BeachHead behind the wheel. "Hey!! BeachHead!! Do you understand Morse code?"

"Yeah.. why?" The balaclava covered face seemed irritable. "You don't remember your Morse code? Geez.. you guys are such slackers." Getting out, he strode over, glaring at the whole group. "You never know when you'll need to get a message out, and Morse code is know all over the world.. everyone oughta be able to do basic Morse code."

Dusty sighed. "Yes.. terrible. Come listen and translate what SnakeEyes is telling us."

BeachHead came to the opening and crouched to listen. "Hey Snakes.. tap away." He listened. "Leg... bleeding.. crushed.. pinned.. rock." The tapping stopped. "Snakes.. how bad is the bleeding? You got an artery hit, or is it just annoying?" He listened again. "Bleeding.. good. Need.. out.. out.. " He bent down to poke his head in. "TunnelRat.. you going okay? Anything we can help with out here?"

The muffled reply sounded impatient. "Yeah.. get CoverGirl back down here behind me ta push the dirt out as I push it back ta her.. an' start throwing dirt around the edges and tamp it down tight to hold dis tank in place. I don't wanna have it start ta move an' crush both a us under here!"

BeachHead frowned a little but backed up to let the tank jockey crawl back into place. "Fine.. be careful under there." He gazed with frank appreciation at the rear end crawling under the wreckage, and then twisted to narrow his gaze at the surrounding guys. "I think ya'll bettah be gettin' some shovels.. get ta work movin' some dirt, 'steada starin' at stuff ya shouldn't be."

* * * *

SnakeEyes distinctly remembered seeing that tank hovering over him in midair. He didn't remember it landing on him, but from his pinned state in the dirt, he could guess he didn't want to remember that.

Pushing his left hand through the dirt, he freed it and felt around. Trying to get his right arm free was a trial. Jerking repeatedly, he dragged it out bit by bit. Then he spent a few minutes trying to get himself the rest free. He heard scuffling nearby and struggled to get a blade out to use.

"SnakeEyes! Hey!" He paused as he recognized RockNRoll's voice. At least he didn't need to worry about Cobra digging to get him. He just needed to worry about being crushed by the ten tons of metal sitting on him. He started digging again, trying to push dirt away from himself.

* * * *

The ninja pounded his head into the soft dirt, which wasn't as painful as he would have liked right now. He began tapping again. *L... E... G... * Only to hear Dusty get the letter wrong again. He tried to tap 'no' to the desert trooper, only to have him add that to the original mistranslated message as well.

He tried digging more, in between trying to communicate with Dusty. When BeachHead arrived he was relieved to be able to tell them his leg was bleeding rather badly, and that he was pinned by a rock under the tank. Of course, he was sure that they were trying to get to him as fast as possible. He'd just need to be as patient as possible until they could get him dug out.

* * * *

TunnelRat finally gave a yelp of triumph. "I see him! Hey Snakes! Fancy meetin' you under here!" He squawked. "Ow! Don't throw no rocks at me! I'm gettin' ya out. Hang on.. how's that leg?" He squirmed up as close as he was able and felt along it, letting the ninja guide his hand to a warm wet spot. "Okay.. so.. lemme see how badly yer pinned..." He scooted a bit further, wedging himself in beside the commando and running his arm down beside the squashed leg to feel. "Alright.. hang on.. " He backed up a couple of inches to get his combat knife loose and ran it up the space. "Hold really still, I'm gonna loosen up this dirt."

After a few minutes, he moved enough dirt to nudge SnakeEyes into trying to get free. "Come on.. I can feel some rock here.." The ninja shook his head. "No huh? Okay.."

He twisted to look as the body relaxed beside him. "Snakes? Hey.. don't be goin' ta sleep on me.. stay awake." He heard a snort. "Alright.. you start goin' ta sleep again, I'm gonna jab ya." He shoved hard at the restraining dirt. "Just a couple more inches.." Finally he backed down his tunnel of dirt and grabbed SnakeEyes by his arms to pull. With enough jerking and squirming, he felt him begin to come free, bit by bit.

He turned to yell over his shoulder. "We're comin' out!! Gimme a pull.. slow and steady!! I'll pull Snakes out wit' me!" He felt hands on his ankles and then around his knees as he was dragged backwards out of the hole. He heard Lifeline's voice.

The medic sounded concerned. "Gently.. we don't know that he doesn't have a spinal injury.."

BeachHead's voice cut through him grumpily. "We ain't got a lotta choice, Lifeline! You think we oughta leave him stuck under the tank? Get out a the way." TunnelRat emerged and turned loose of SnakeEyes' arms to let Roadblock and BeachHead take hold. "Good job 'Rat."

The Ranger pulled him out carefully and smoothly. "Hey spook.. easy there.. yer back ain't broke, right? I'd hate to have to listen ta Lifeline saying he was right for the next two years." SnakeEyes shook his head at them, pointing at his leg instead.

Getting him free, they let Lifeline settle the ninja into a Stokes litter. The medic fussed over his patient. "I'm taking your visor off.. just look straight ahead.." The basic check came up good and satisfied him. "Just your leg hurting? I'll bet you're bruised all over.. we'll be checking you out a lot in the infirmary.. let's see that leg."

BeachHead crouched down next to the litter, grinning under the balaclava. "Ya know Snakes.." The commando turned his head to give him a suspicious look. "I unnerstand Cobra wantin' to throw a tank at ya, in order ta stop ya. Ain't much less been stoppin' ya lately, right?" He paused. "But ya know.. jus' cause Cobra throws a tank at ya.. don't mean ya gotta try ta catch the danged thing!"

Not finding any nearby rocks, SnakeEyes had to settle for throwing sand at the Ranger as he walked away.


End file.
